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French retail giant Carrefour said Thursday it has sold 10 percent of its Brazilian subsidiary to local billionaire Abilio Diniz for 525 million euros ($650 million).
“This transaction is a significant first step in the plan … to bring outside investors into the capital of its Brazilian subsidiary in order to strengthen its local ties and support its growth,” Carrefour said in a statement.
Diniz was previously in partnership with Carrefour’s French rival Casino, with which he shared control of his family business Pao de Acucar.
But that relationship soured when it emerged that the Brazilian magnate had approached Carrefour to merge their subsidiaries in Brazil, and Diniz eventually sold the remainder of his stake in Pao de Acucar to Casino.
Brazil is Carrefour’s second biggest market after France, generating some 10.2 billion euros in revenues in 2013.
The group has 256 outlets in Latin America’s biggest economy and employs 72,000 people.
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